facts for features

Back To School

Spirit-This reading is mainly about the money spent on school shopping, details about the students enrolled in school, details about the schools themselves, information about the staff and personal of the school and their salaries, technology in schools, the cost of college, predictions about graduation, and government spending on schools.

1. $7.5 million spent on back to school shopping.

2.75 students enrolled this year

3.31 kids enrolled in the lunch program

4.97382 schools as of 06

5.7.1 million teachers in 07

6.$59,825 annual salary of public school teachers in California

7.37% of people in college 25 years or older

8.5.6 years for a bachelors degree.

9.46% of 18-19 year olds in college

10.11 million kids 5-17 speak a language other than english

Maggie! - This piece focuses on Cinco de Mayo and Mexican independence day. It looks at the number of U.S. citizens of Mexican decent. It talks about trade and business with Mexico and food.

1) 28.3 million U.S. residents of Mexican origin.

2) 17.86 million people of Mexican origin who lived in Texas and California.

3) 25.7 median age of people who are of Mexican origin.

4) 630,000 number of Mexican-Americans who are U.S. military veterans.

5) 1.2 million people of Mexican origin over 25 who have a bachelor's degree.

6) 37% households are owned by people of Mexican decent.

7) 4.1 avg. size of households of mexican decent.

8) 14% of employed Mexican-American civilians in managerial; professional or related occupations.

9) $37,661 avg. income of a Mexican-American household.

10) 23% poverty rate of Mexican-Americans.

Census

In April 1, 2000, the population of Florida was 15,982,378. However, in April 1, 1990, the population was 12,937,926. Over 10 years, Florida's population increased by about 3,044,452 people. This can also be said as an increase of about 23.5%. Florida had a very substantial increase.

ADDITION CENSUS=My state, Florida, currently has a higher population percent of males than the U.S. However, the U.S. has a higher population percent of females than Florida. Both the U.S. and Florida have the same highest age group: 25-59. They both have the same smallest age group too: 85+. There highest population age has had a major increase since 1990. Yet, the U.S. has had a population decrease in 20-24 year olds, while Florida's population hasn't decreased in any age groups at all. Florida has lower percent of population that is 18 or under. Florida has had a major increase in urban population: 30.11%. The U.S. has had an increase in urban population, but not as high. Florida has actually had a decrease in rural population, while the U.S. has had an increase. The U.S.'s family household population has decreased, yet Florida's family population has had an increase. A higher percent of Florida's population speaks a language other than english, while the U.S. has a lower percent of its population speaking another language. The U.S.'s population has had a decrease in High school and college graduates, while florida has had a decrease in elementary school kids. Both the U.S. and Florida have the same population percent that earned a high school diploma. The U.S. has a higher percent of homes without cell phones than Florida. That's my extended paragraph.

maggie.... Michigan

Hello my name is Michigan. My name, Michigan, or Michi Gama means large lake in Ojibwa. I became a state on January 26th 1837. I am kinda in the middle of the family, I am the 26th born. I consider myself the luckiest because i am surrounded by water. Lakes Superior and Michigan, my daughter and son, are so great. Their cousins are also very great. My nickname is “The Wolverine State”. Some famous people are; Malcolm X, Gerald Ford, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Madonna, Magic Johnson, and Aretha franklin. As well as, Joe Louis, Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering (developed whooping cough vaccine). And Ralph J. Bunche. In the ’30’s i had a giant population boom during which time in which time i was able to become a state because my parents finally thought i was worthy. =]. Now i had a lot of resources that people needed. Like Iron ore and trees. Some of my lumberjack nieces and nephews, like Paul Bunyan from Minnesota, my sister, came to cut them down, because they were becoming quite itchy and my daughters and son’s needed them. Now in 1908 my most ambitious son, Henry Ford, created the model t ford truck. i also have a lot more very nice cars. My state bird is the robin. State Fish the Brook Trout, State flower the apple blossom and state tree the white pine. I’m kind of an artsy fartsy, i have some of the nations best art schools. And my daughter Motown, she is African american and she loves music, follows in my footsteps. Now my son, detroit, he wasn’t always the best kid, he put his children through some poverty, and he adopted children from all over, but did not treat them right. They then started riots that just broke his heart and nearly destroyed him alltogether. But everything is fine now. Most of my grand kids come from europe. but some have come from africa. and detroit took in a lot of arab kids. now they have grown up and had great great great grandkids. which makes me a very diverse state. i grow a lot of pine trees and my brothers and sisters get jealous so i send them to them every christmas. i have more shoreline than any state, except for my brother alaska. I have amazing soil which helps me grow a lot of things. like my famous apples. but i also grow very good corn and cherries. i love to ski golf and i love the wilderness. That’s all i really have to say about my amazing life. go michigan!

Hello, my name is Florida. I'm a proud son of the U.S., although I got 49 other siblings. I'm one of the younger siblings, so I tend to get picked on because of it. However, I'm still a warm and sunny person to be around. Granted I can get a little cold and sad. I'm a crier, I'll admit. In the summer, sometimes all I'll do is cry and I get soaked because of it. I'm on a hit list for some reason. I've had near death experiences of assassins like Andrew and Gustave. I'm lucky that a particularly nasty one, named Katrina, got my sister, Louisiana. I do feel bad for her though. It took her a while to get back on her feet. My warm personality tends to attract people to me, and I take them to stores, restaurants, and hotels and they pay! Which, of course, goes to my kids, which, of course, goes to me. I have a lot of food here. In fact, at the southern tip of me, food can grow all year long! I make so much citrus fruits, second only to Brazil. I also have an abundance of seafood. I was becoming a state, but that would have upset the free state-slave state balance, so my sister, Iowa, became a state with me. However, I seceded after a while and my biggest contribution to the Confederacy was meat, salt, and cotton. I didn't rejoin the U.S. until 1868. After the civil war was when I started to get into the fruit buissness. I flourished until the great depression. Some of my kids became pretty famous, such as actors Burt Reynolds and Sidney Poitier, and singer Jim Morrison. I'm a very interesting state. Gatorade was named after my university's colledge football team, the Florida Gators. The biggest Bald Eagle's nest in the U.S. was mine(1oft. by 20ft.). I have a walking catfish. It's called such because it breathes air and "walks" from pond to pond. I have 40 different plant species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. My favorite animal's the Florida Panther, my favorite flower's the orange blossom, my favorite tree's the Sabal Palm, and my favorite bird's the Mocking Bird. So, THAT'S ME!

Globalization

Post #9: Globalization

Define the following:

Globalization
Is the process of increased interconnectedness among countries most notably in the areas of economics, politics, and culture.

Capital
Money

Diffusion
To spread out

Non-Governmental Organization
Bring together people unaffiliated with the government and can be nationally or globally focused.
Answer the following:

What has happened that has increased globalization (4 answers)?
1. Improved Technology

2. Movement of people and capital

3. Diffusion of knowledge

4.NGOs and multicultural corporations

What are the possible positive and negative aspects of globalization?

Positive	Negative
As more money is poured in to developing countries, there is a greater chance for the people in those countries to economically succeed and increase their standard of living.	Outsourcing, while it provides jobs to a population in one country, it takes away from those jobs from another country, leaving many without opprotunities.
Global competition encourages creativity and innovation and keeps prices for commodities/services in check.	Although different cultures from around the world are able to interact, they begin to meld, and the contours and individuality begin to fade.
Developing countries are able to reap the benefits of current technology without undergoing many of the growing pains associated with development of these technologies.	There may be a greater chance of disease spreading worldwide, as well as invasive species that could prove devastating in non-native ecosystems.
Governments are able to better work together towards common goals now that there is an advantage in cooperation, an improved ability to interact and coordinate, and a global awareness of issues.	There is little international regulation, an unfortunate fact that could have dire consequences for the safety of people and the environment.

environmental influences

Summer-People get different jobs that may be only available in the summer such as lawn mowing, and being a life guard. Construction often occurs as well.

Spring-life practically begins anew during spring. Many new jobs are available as well as some old ones too. Gardening and outdoor jobs are open in the spring.

Winter-outdoor jobs usually become scarce, except for the snow shoveling jobs. There may also be indoor jobs as well.

Fall-The temperature is cooling down by now, and although there may a few lawn mowing jobs left, leaf raking is the most abundant job at the moment.

Tornadoes- these natural disasters usually happen during the summer when it's warm. The effects these have on our lives can be catastrophic, and if we didn't have these, our lives would be safer, but storm chasers would have a harder time finding work.

Forests-These provide a major source of both fuel and beauty to our world. Without these marvels of nature, not only would our land seem bare, but we would die to loss of oxygen creation and CO2 absorbing.

Lakes&Rivers-These provide water for us and the wildlife to live off of. Without these, we and the wildlife would eventually die out unless we used sea water.

Driving-this releases a vast amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. If we continue to drive using the fuels we have now, the world will suffer.

Computers-computers, or PC's, allow a person to connect to the world in their own home. This could be a step into even more sophisticated technology.

Appliances-Appliances allow a person to live and function easier than if they were left to their own devices in the world. We could survive without these advantages, but it would definitely be harder to do so.

Bottled Water-Bottled water is a cleaner version of tap water, or water that comes from the sink. This is not exactly needed, but it tends to taste more pure than tap water. We could easily function in society without this.

News papers-news papers allow a person to know what is going on in the world, such as sports and home economics and politics. We could survive without this, we just would not as easily know what is going on in the world.

ten descriptions

Spirit-N Dakota-w of MN, n of S Dakota, E of Montana

Nebraska-S of S Dakota, N of Kansas, E of Wyoming.

Florida-S of Georgia, SE of Alabama, E of Gulf of Mexico.

Texas-S of Oklahoma, NE of Mexico, E of New Mexico.

Washington-N of Oregon, W of Idaho, S of Canada. 

The Five Themes of Geography

I. Location
A. Absolute Location
1. Position on the globe
2. Uses imaginary lines
3. Lines are called latitude and longitude
B. Relative Location
1. Relations to other places
2. Describes other places near desired place
3. Use miles, land marks, etc.
II. Place
A. Physical Characteristics

1. Unique Characteristics

2. Terrains, climate

B. Human Characteristics

1. Characteristics involving people

2. Economy, language, customs

III. Regions

A. Formal

1. Characteristics throughout area

2. States, countries

B. Functional

1. Central place and surrounding areas

2. Amazon drainage basin

C. Perceptual

1. How person sees place

2. Opinion of Missouri (example)

IV. Movement

A. Don't exist in isolation

B. Places change position

V. Human-Environment Interaction

A. How people use environment

B. City building etc.

Maggie and Spirit's places traveled

View Larger Map

The seven continents are Africa, Asia, Antarctica, N. America, S. America, Australia, and Europe.The five oceans consist of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.The newest ocean is the southern ocean.I use the following acronym to remember the map essentials:DOGSTAILSS.The map essentials are date, orientation,grid,scale,title,author,index,legend,source,andsituation.Each map essential is used for a specific reason (Identify each reason).D-determine the age of map,O-show direction,G-show locations,S-show length,T-show name of map,A-show name of maker,I-show specific places,L-show meanings of symbols,S-show different info, S-show map in relation to world.The directions on the compass rose are North, South, East, West.I remember the directions of the compass rose by remembering WE(West to East)Latitude runs from __West____ to ____East___.The important lines of latitude are the equator, tropic of cancer, tropic of capricorn, and the Arctic circle.Longitude runs from ___North___ to ___South___.The important lines of longitude are the prime meridian.I am able to use latitude and longitude to find places on a map.Mental maps represent our rememberance of a map.Mental maps differ according to a persons idea or memory of that map.

dogstails

Date- Helps to judge the relative accuracy of a map.

Orientation-shows direction(north, south, east, west)

Grid-A set lines that intersect at different places to create a map adress.

Scale-what a unit of measure represents on the map.

Title-describes what map shows.

Author-shows who made the map to help tell the reliability.

Index-An alphbetical list of places on the map.

Legend-shows the meaning of symbols on the map.

Source-information that the cartograpger didn't obtain.

Situation-shows where a place is in reference to the rest of the world.

Compass Essays

Spirit-Hi, my name is Spirit Vinson, and I'm here to tell you about my compass. In the center, you will find three horns in a slight ring formation. These represent the Three Horns of Odin, which involves my religion which I wont go into detail about. At north, you'll see a shark because I want to be a marine biologist when I am old enough. At the south, you'll see a small, nervous looking face. I have minor public speaking issues that I would really like to leave behind. At the other directions(east, west, ect.), you'll see some of the things that I am interested in such as snakes, swords, tatoos, and all the other things that you see on my compass.

Geography definition

Spirit-My definition of geography is the study of the world and maps.